Help..all these chargers confuse me

[Headbang]

I have been considering one of the Hitec 4x chargers but now I'm not so sure. I love the idea of charging multiple batteries without owning multiple chargers but if it doesn't work well, it's not really an option for me.

If the plan is to charge 4 3s 4000mah and under batteries in about an hr, then it will work. You don't start to see the failings until you go bigger then 3s. The charger is excellent, the only issue is the AC to DC regulator is to weak for large batteries. Mine did see a lot of use this summer charging 2s 2200mah reciever packs and 2s 1100mah ignition packs.

 

[Headbang]

This is a setup I inherited. Has a 12 volt car battery, 400 Watt power inverter, trickle charger and all associated charging cords, power bars etc in a wheeled tool bag. Pretty slick. Broke off the solder joints from the trickle charger so have my larger charger hooked to it temporarily. Nice to take to the field or use in my shop. I charge straight from it instead of an AC adapter. Like a big capacitor, basically.

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I like it!

 

[Headbang]

You know how to party. I'll be the guy beside you in the old Tacoma I inherited and sleeping in a pup tent!

Only way I can get my wife to come with me is with the big rv! I make 5 day "camping" trips out of weekend fun flies 😁

 

[jross]

Only way I can get my wife to come with me is with the big rv!

Why I have a pup tent. I figure my wife has hobbies of her own.

 

[makattack]

Why I have a pup tent. I figure my wife has hobbies of her own.

Why I don't have a wife... not that I didn't try. They said find a hobby. That's a great way to meet people...

 

[jross]

For those who feel they need to buy something made in America, they're manufactured in Poway, CA - that's another reason I really like them. They're only about 1/2 an hour away from where I live, and they have a lifetime warranty on their chargers. Something happens to it, they'll replace it.

I emailed the company to ask when their X4 would be available for purchase as it's out of stock everywhere. They told me they were waiting for a container to arrive. I can only assume they're manufactured somewhere else.

 

[jross]

I’ve been very happy with my IMAX B6’s. They are cheap enough that I have 8 of them. Now I don’t have to spend all day changing. I hav e 30 amp power supply which easily powers all of them. I one charger fails, just replace it.

I was considering the Hitec X4 but after some research and your recommendation, I'm getting a B6. About 110 bucks cheaper in CAD.

 

[basslord1124]

I have a Hitec X4 AC Pro...runs about $200 and can charge 4 batteries at once. It works good for up 4S batteries...haven't tried any 5S or 6S batteries on it yet. Even though I haven't tried it, I can tell from the numbers that it won't perform as good on 5S and 6S (maybe lower Mah it will). So if you plan on flying parkflyer size this charger or something similar should work great for you. If you do see yourself going with bigger planes and needing bigger batteries then you should consider a bigger charger. See here's an example using a 6S battery:

Battery: 6S, 5000Mah
Charger wattage needed: Watts=Volts x Amps ...so 25.2V for your pack (this is the total V for a fully charged 6S or basically 4.2V times the number of cells) times 5A will equal 126 total watts.

And if by some chance that 6S battery could possibly handle a 2C charge rate or 3C charge rate you would multiple that by the 126...so 252W for 2C or 378W for 3C. So in those cases you can see you'd need a higher wattage charger for a big battery. Even if a battery is capable of higher than a 1C charge I still would stick with a 1C charge (the 126W in this case).

So just some crazy numbers and math to think about for IF you want to start looking at 5S and 6S power. But IF you want to do park flyer size, I think a good 2-4 port 200W-300W charger should work fine.

And just so you know, the big issue with charging a larger battery on a small charger is basically time. It would basically take a lot longer to fully charge it (like we're talking hours).